The NBA Finals are back at Madison Square Garden and Donald Trump is crashing the party
Published on 08/06/2026 - 12:46 GMT+2 Almost three decades after the NBA Finals last visited Madison Square Garden, the big show is back in New York on Monday night....
Published on 08/06/2026 - 12:46 GMT+2
Almost three decades after the NBA Finals last visited Madison Square Garden, the big show is back in New York on Monday night. Unfortunately for Knicks fans hoping to focus on basketball, a presidential-sized sideshow is crashing the party.
When the Knicks host Game 3 – their first Finals home game since 1999, and with a 2-0 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs – Donald Trump says he will be in attendance.
Some fans really wish he wouldn’t.
“THATS NOT THE COLOR ORANGE WE WANT TO SEE AT THE GARDEN!” wrote one user on the Knicks’ Instagram account, saying the quiet part in all caps.
“He should just come to game 8,” wrote another in reference to the seven-game series.
The TSA experience arrives at the Garden
Politics aside, hosting a sitting president comes with a fair amount of baggage – even if fans aren’t allowed to bring any themselves.
On Saturday, the Knicks warned fans to expect a strict no-bag policy and “TSA-style screening procedures” ahead of tip-off, while urging spectators to arrive at least two hours early to allow time for additional security checks.
“As we move closer to Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday night, Madison Square Garden and the United States Secret Service want to help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all ticket holders by sharing important security procedures that will be in place,” the team said in a statement.
If Trump does attend, he will become the first sitting US president to appear at an NBA Finals game – or any NBA game since 2015, when Barack Obama sat courtside when the Chicago Bulls played the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James.
“I’ve been a Knick fan for a long time, and I’m also a Jim Dolan fan,” Trump told reporters last week, referring to the owner of the Knicks. “He’s a nice guy, OK? He spent a long time wanting to win, and he’s a competitive guy, and he’s got a team that’s amazing.”
Authorities also pulled the plug on a planned watch party outside Madison Square Garden. Considering a similar party during Game 2 resulted in more than a dozen arrests, that news might come as less of a surprise than Trump’s last-minute attendance.
Who else will be there?
As ever at Madison Square Garden, Trump won’t be the only famous fan in the building. Or even the only politician.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdaniis also expected to attend - as is a cavalcade of celebrity fans who have been spotted courtside throughout the playoffs.
Ben Stiller, Billy Baldwin, Fat Joe, Tracy Morgan and power couple Timothée Chalametand Kylie Jenner have all been regulars during the Knicks’ postseason run.
But no celebrity is more synonymous with Knicks fandom than Spike Lee.
The filmmaker has been attending Knicks games since 1985, the same year he began filming his first feature, She’s Gotta Have It. He’s lived through the highs of the Patrick Ewing years in the 1990s and the lows of the 2018 season, when the Knicks finished with the NBA’s worst record.
In 2024, Lee was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a ‘superfan’ alongside fellow Knicks devotee Billy Crystal and longtime Lakers supporter Jack Nicholson.
On a night when a president is making a rare appearance at the NBA Finals, Lee’s presence might be the least surprising thing in the building.
